The first time I spoke publicly, it was in front of over 10,000 people at Kiener Plaza in St. Louis, MO on April 15, 2009 at the Tax Day Tea Party rally. I had called Dana Loesch—my friend now, however I didn’t know her at the time—and asked if I could speak at the upcoming Tea Party rally. She said the speaking spots had been filled, but she invited me to emcee the event.

I met the other speakers at a nearby restaurant to get acquainted with them, people like Jim Hoft (the Gateway Pundit), Ed Martin, and others. As we sat in the restaurant, it was evident that nobody had any idea what was about to happen.

The media trucks were parked along Market Street, and people began pouring in. The energy in the air could have powered the city.

I gathered my notes on the speakers, left the restaurant and joined the crowd that was forming in numbers I have never seen outside of a sporting event. As I weaved my way through the crowd I recall thinking, “This is the beginning of something really big.”

What should have been a terrifying experience, the prospect of speaking in front of thousands of people, was quite the opposite. I felt a wave of confidence from the collective spirit of all those great patriots, and I was charged up.

I grew up with people of the Tea Party movement. I knew them to be what they really are, and not what the lamestream media portrayed. We were not Republican or Democrat, we were just Americans who had finally had enough.

That event launched my speaking career. Educating with humor. A poor black kid who loses his mother at age 5, his father was a drug-addict, and resident of San Quentin prison might need to laugh to keep from crying. I learned to find the good in life, the humor of our situation. I learned that America provided opportunity, not excuses.